These are the gnocchi di semolina all Romana
-- the famed gnocchi that are ubiquitous in restaurants and at homes
in Rome.

This delectable comfort food is a stand-alone
dish -- there is no need to add sauce. You just bake it.

Ingredients:

four cups milk

one and one-third cups semolina flour

two egg yolks, lightly beaten

two cups freshly grated parmesan

one stick of butter

salt and pepper

Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium
heat until it is just ready to boil. Remove from the heat and add the
semolina flour slowly sprinkling the flour into the milk while stirring
constantly.

Return to a low heat, and simmer, stirring
constantly, for ten to fifteen minutes. The mixture should be getting
dense very soon and is done when it forms a mass that comes cleanly away
from the sides of the pot.

Add four tablespoons of butter, a half cup of
parmesan, and the egg yolks, and stir until they melt thoroughly into the
flour, about two to three minutes.

Moisten a hard surface, preferably marble,
with cold water. Dump the semolina mixture onto the surface, and the
with the heels of your hands or a flat object like an spatula or side of a
knife, spread the mixture into en even thickness, about three-eights of an
inch.

Let the semolina cool completely, about thirty
minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Smear the
bottom of a baking dish lightly with butter.

With a cookie cutter or a glass or similar,
cut the semolina into rounds of about one and one-half inches in diameter.

Arrange the gnocchi on the bottom of the dish
in a single layer, overlapping as if they were roofing tiles. Cut the
remaining two tablespoons of butter into little slivers and spread them
over the tiled semolina. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top.

Bake for fifteen minutes. If the top is not a
light, golden brown, you can run them under a broiler for a minute.

Allow to settle for a few minutes. Serve from
the baking dish, with some added parmesan on the side.